Board games such as checkers, chess, and backgammon have been popular for a long time because although they may require skill, they have straightforward, clear rules and are enjoyable to play. Checkers for example involves moving one piece at a time on a turn, in a clearly defined manner. Chess involves moving one piece at a time on a turn, wherein different pieces move different ways, but these ways are straightforward to understand. Backgammon involves moving two pieces on a turn, but again in a clearly defined manner.
Unlike checkers, chess, and backgammon, there are many games which incorporate various aspects of American Football (hereinafter “football”) which have many rules which often may make the games tedious, and not enjoyable to play, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,820 to Macomber, U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,011 to Sheridan, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,069,514 to Wylie. Often these games attempt to replicate every aspect of a football game and end up being far too complex. These games may involve calling many different plays, moving many players in many different ways, and executing many plays in order to score.
There are other games which incorporate football in a superficial sense, but which allow movements which do not resemble football at all. For example, there are “football” chess games which basically play like chess but with football characters and extra points for capturing various pieces, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,335 to Wise. There is also a football checkers game, U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,006 to Stewart, which plays more like checkers, allowing a “quarterback” to jump as many offensive players on a turn as he is able to, something that no real quarterback could ever do. The football checkers game to Stewart, also crams in twelve defensive players and eleven offensive players on an eight space width board, which prevents the game from playing like football. I.e. there is inadequate space to run or throw as in a game of football.
There is a need for a football board game which has straightforward rules so that it is enjoyable to play and which incorporates main aspects of football so it can play like football.